Like everybody else, I'll do a little year in review. It's certainly been a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs. Luckily my memory sucks, so this shouldn't be too lengthy. Most of what I will remember will come from reviewing my running log.

This time last year I was just coming off of my IT band issues after I started training too soon after the City of Oaks Marathon. At that time I was still committing my training to triathlon. Following my step-wise progression, this was suppose to be the year of the half-Ironman, so I signed up for the White Lake Half since several other friends were doing so.

Training was going great. I had a high volume routine with a couple of two-a-days and lengthy brick workouts. I still wasn't completely satisfied with my cycling. In April, I had a full race weekend where I ran both the Tarheel 10 mile and the Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon on back-to-back days. I met my goals in both with sub-7:00 min miles (which happened to be a PR for my half marathon!).

Unfortunately only two weeks before the race, I developed a stress fracture that sidelined my race plans. This meant a solid 4-6 weeks without any running, again devoting most of my energy to swimming and cycling. It wasn't until July that I was able to start hitting the pavement and trails again.

At some point I decided to put triathlons on the back burner. I don't casually give up on goals like that, but I ended up weighing my sparse enjoyment of cycling against the things I didn't like about it: the costs, the time commitment, the hazards, etc. For the moment, cycling and I just aren't in-sync, so for it's just a cross-training activity.

What I did fall in love with was trail running, which I guess I started after Greg invited me to a weekly trail run headed by Daren Marceau, Meredith and his father[/in law]. The focal point of my training became the Medoc Mountain Trail Marathon in October. With a lengthy build up, I hit some incredibly mileage goals that, given the time to publish, I would proudly boast. The training paid off with a first place in my age group, and fourth overall.

That race quickly moved into my first attempt at an ultramarathon. I had eight weeks to get ready for the Lookout Mountain 50 miler in December. If my marathon training was grand, then this was epic. 6 hour runs, 5 and 5 back-to-back long runs, 3x3 hours, etc. One week I will proudly say I broke the 100 mile mark.

Sad to say, a week before the race I fell of my roof and broke two ribs. Still able to run; however the "nagging" was just too distracting and unpredictable that I decided to postpone the race. What's followed since is some pretty typical weekly mileage, but broken down differently where I've been running based of what I want to do, as oppose to a set schedule.

Yesterday, my final run was the Carrboro 50k, where I successfully ran all 3 laps. It doesn't make me an ultra-runner since it's not an official race, but it settled some frustration I had from not being able to run my 50 miler.

Now, it's time for a run. Maybe a follow up post I'll put in some of my basic stats from the year, and speculate on what 2012 will bring.